


Lunar Titanium - A Tale of Moon Princesses

by strawberrymilkytea



Category: Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon | Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon | Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon (Anime & Manga), Code Name: Sailor V
Genre: Aliens, F/F, F/M, Horror, Humor, Magical Girls, Multi, Sailor Moon Sailor Stars
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-17
Updated: 2018-03-04
Packaged: 2018-11-01 17:08:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,007
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10926273
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/strawberrymilkytea/pseuds/strawberrymilkytea
Summary: Monstrous hybrids are slaughtering innocent people, commanded by a demon named Ghast. The Sailor Senshi have been dragged to Hell. Usagi is no longer Sailor Moon, and left blind after a violent attack. This story is a re imagining of Sailor Moon if it were targeted toward an adult audience, and Tokyo may never be safe again.





	1. A World of Darkness

**Author's Note:**

> An Important Notice: This is not your classic Sailor Moon story arc. I respect and love the series, have read all of the manga volumes, seen every episode of classic, Stars, the movies, and reboot. I’m a collector of the merchandise as well, and the entire franchise was pretty much my childhood (growing up in the ’90’s, every little girl wanted to be the moon princess). But as a writer, I thought ‘what if Sailor Moon was directed more towards adults’? You know, what if it was a tad darker than the usual messages of love and friendship? So, after much thought and development, I have decided to make my idea a reality. I’m placing this message here because I would like for my readers to approach this story with an open mind, not “Oh but that isn’t accurate to the show/manga!”. I’m aware it’s an original spin on the beloved story from our childhood. And all I ask is that you give it a chance. You may enjoy it.  
>  Thank you.

=A World of Darkness=

 

 

Foreboding gray clouds formed a bleak and ominous wall in the sky, blocking out any and every bit of sunshine that had been earlier promised in the forecast. Of course, no one could have predicted what would happen that expectedly pleasant afternoon in Tokyo. No weather radar would have seen this coming.  
The streets – usually so packed and alive with chatter – were now eerily silent, mangled body parts littering the sidewalks. Acidic rain washed pint after pint of blood down into the sewer system, trees planted along the road began withering and turning black, folding in on themselves and not one victim was left breathing.  
Amidst the horrific scene was a single figure in a torn sailor uniform, which had only hours ago been white and blue, but was now mostly stained crimson, both from her own injuries and the blood of others. She had long, honey-blonde hair pulled into two long twin tails that formed round, dumpling like shapes atop her head, which had long come loose. Strands of wispy hair blew around her hollow face, her sapphire eyes – once so full of life – blank, hopeless, and desperate.  
Scuffed, scarlet knee boots stumbled among the fallen civilians that she could not save, and tears silently streamed down her cheeks, stinging the cuts all over them. The remnants of a terrible massacre lay all around her, the rain burning her creamy flesh, but she could barely feel it anymore. Loss and emotional pain weighed heavy on her heart, hurting far worse than even the gashes on her thighs and hips.  
It had all happened so quickly – the iconic Scouts had stood no chance. The barbaric creatures had been sent up directly from hell, summoned by an anonymous individual who called himself Ghast. A fitting name, considering the horror and chaos he’d unleashed upon the innocent people of Tokyo. Though he was supposedly human, he’d claimed to be acting on behalf of revenge for the ancient queen of the Dark Moon.  
Just whenever she’d thought it was over – that she could at last put away the alias of Sailor Moon and get on with her life – Usagi was met with her worst nightmare. All of her friends, save of course Chibiusa who was safe in the future, had been dragged down by monsters so putrid and horrific that it made her gag to simply recall their appearance. Giant abominations with bodies like centipedes and the pale faces and long black hair of women, looking like a twisted form of Geisha mixed with the most potent nightmare fuel.  
Usagi shuddered and sank to her knees. The battle had been fierce, and she had tried so hard to save her Senshi. Curling her hands into fists on the cracked asphalt, she took in labored breathes and tried to calm herself, but to no avail. They were gone, and she could do nothing.  
The Imperial Crystal had been greatly damaged by one of the Chogsogu – what Ghast had called his monstrous pets – and what had started as a hairline crack had spread quickly into a web of them across the holy jewel. Gasping sharply, Usa tore the heart-shaped winged locket from her tattered bow and dropped it beside her. The jewel feebly flashed a few times until the celestial light within it darkened for good, and the crystal shattered into thousands of minuscule pieces.  
A few drops of blood pattered onto the street from Usa’s eyes, her vision blurring until it was nonexistent. She then collapsed, her Senshi uniform replaced with her ripped pearl-colored graduation gown. No longer a princess of the past. No longer a guardian of the present. No longer a queen of the future. Just a disgraced failure. Just a nobody.

/ / /<


	2. A Blind Promise

=A Blind Promise=

 

It’s been six months.

Mom has sent me to therapy every other day since I got out of the hospital. But it doesn’t help. The medication doesn’t stop me from screaming myself and the entire house awake every night. And talking won’t bring my friends back. Or my ability to see.  
Not a moment passes that I don’t wish I could go back to that day, the day our lives were really supposed to begin, and do – something. I’d give my heart, my soul, my eyes, anything to have saved them.  
But wishing won’t revive them, or the thousands of other innocent people who were slaughtered because I couldn’t protect them. Hundreds of families torn apart, children left orphans, parents burying their babies, and news stories all over television asking why.  
“…And the question remains – “Where is Sailor Moon?” Has she abandoned us, and should we truly give up hope? More attacks were reported today in the Hara—” I shut off the TV; I can still feel where the power button is on the remote control. My family doesn’t object. We’re tired of hearing the rising death count. Though I can’t see them, I hear Mom flipping through a magazine way too quickly to actually be reading it, Shingo clicking away on his handheld game system, and Dad at the table, going through yet more medical bills. I can sense the stress in his breathing.  
That’s thing about being blind; everything becomes so much clearer to you.  
Unable to bear the sound of silence any longer, I stand and exit the sitting room, into the hall, where I feel along the wall until I reach the stairs and carefully ascend them. Memorizing the layout of my home had been difficult at first, but now I can navigate it without the help of a cane, at least. It’s going out in public that really impairs me. Not that anyone with half a mind makes an effort to leave the safety of their homes much, with the attacks growing ever more frequent.  
I push open the door to my room and make my way to the bed, where I lower myself and feel around until I find a pillow to hug against my rolling stomach. A soft, slender form brushes comfortingly against me, slinking in between my legs until I reach down to pet her. At my touch, she lets out a soft “mew”.  
Luna hasn’t been able to communicate with me since the Imperial Silver Crystal was destroyed. Often I miss her voice, and not long after graduation I even began longing for her nagging. She is the only one I can talk to about the girls, my very best friends, and who they really were. They were heroes. But no one knows that, aside from me and a cat that I can no longer understand.  
Their bodies weren’t recovered, but many people had been devoured whole by the Chogsogu, as well as ripped apart, so that had not given me any hope. Instead it made me feel empty. Each funeral seemed lacking, not worthy of the beautiful lives they were to commemorate. The caskets were filled with mementos in place of corpses. Ami’s laptop. Rei’s robes. Mina’s scarlet hair bow. Makoto’s rose earrings.  
It still hadn’t felt like we’d properly said farewell.  
I’m almost grateful that I can’t see anymore; the world’s become such a wretched place, and I’ve already lost so much of who I used to be that I don’t think I could handle much more without totally breaking. And a world without my friends isn’t one I want to look upon anyway.  
My phone comes to life on the nightstand – it’s Mamo-chan’s specific ring tone. I silence and allow it to go to voicemail. I don’t feel very much like talking right now. Gathering Luna up in my arms, I lay back against the pillows and hold her close, her purring acting as a pacifier for me. Though it makes no difference, I close my eyes. They still hurt sometimes, but I no longer have to wear the bandages over them. My doctor suggested wearing a pair of dark glasses to make me feel less self-conscious while I make the adjustment, but I declined. If my blank eyes make people uncomfortable, I don’t frankly care.  
Gently stroking Luna’s plush fur helps to somewhat calm me. She snuggles up against my neck as if to offer comfort. I think she can still understand me, even if she can’t respond with human speech. That hope often helps me through the difficult days. Not even speaking to Mamo-chan makes me feel better..  
I also think a lot about Chibiusa. This horror movie that has become our reality.. how has it affected and changed the future? Is she okay? Is she safe? Does she even exist anymore? Feeling that I might vomit, I sit up quickly and grab the nearby waste basket. Luna leaps up in surprise, but softly mews in sympathy as I wretch up what little bit of food I’ve managed to force myself to eat today.  
After washing my face and wiping my mouth with a damp rag in the bathroom, I return to my bedroom and close the door, pressing my back against it and taking in a shaky breath. The new medicine I’ve been taking hasn’t helped my anxiety very much. I’m still unable to hold down solid foods, and I’m losing so much weight that even children’s clothing is becoming baggy on me.  
I don’t realize I’m crying until a soft whimper escapes my lips. It’s hard to feel anything in my face with the damaged nerves. I retrieve a tissue from a Kleenex box on the dresser and dab gently at the tears. A knock sounds at my door, my mother’s voice follows close afterwards.  
“Bunny, are you alright?”  
“I’m fine.” I respond in the calmest tone I can manage. She doesn’t sound convinced, but concedes, leaving me to stew in my misery alone. I prefer it this way.  
Though I cannot actually see my reflection, I feel around for the mirror on my dressing table and glower at myself in the glass. “You’re pathetic,” I say lowly, gripping the sides of the dresser tightly. “You should have died instead. It should have been you.”  
“IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN YOU!” Now I’m screaming, and I don’t care who hears. I pick up the nearest solid object – a picture frame – and smash the mirror, hitting it over and over, ignoring the large, jagged shards of glass burying into my hands.  
“Usa! Usagi!” Mom’s calling from the other side of my door, but it’s locked and no matter how much she jiggles the handle or beats on it, it won’t open. And I don’t stop. Eventually my voice goes hoarse and my weak body runs out of energy.  
Sinking to my knees, I take shallow, pained breaths, allowing tears to continue streaming down my face. Warm blood is pouring from my arms and hands, but I ignore it. How much I’ve changed in such a short time…  
I used to be such a happy and caring person. Now I’m destroying furniture in a grief and self loathing induced fit, worrying my family to death. Mom is still begging me to let her in, but I can’t bring myself to stand up. Guilt pierces me like a dagger in the chest as I hear her sobbing and Dad trying to remove the doorknob altogether.  
Curling into a ball, I hug myself and cry harder than I ever have in my nineteen years. Luna paws at me in concern, but I can’t compose myself. Especially when my hand brushes something achingly familiar – a heart-shaped brooch, battered and broken. It must have fallen off of my dresser while I was beating the hell out of it.  
Wrapping my bleeding fist tightly around it, I hold it close to my heart and grit my teeth so tightly it hurts my jaw. I can’t do this. I just can’t live without them. It isn’t fair for them to be gone while I’m still alive, still with my family, still for the most part healthy.  
“…My poor queen…what’s become of you?” a sorrowful woman’s voice breaks me momentarily from my despair. Immediately I recognize it and my eyes widen as I sit up. “Setsuna? Is that you?” I reach out with my free hand, and the Sailor Senshi of Time wraps her satin gloved one gently around my mangled fingers. More tears form before I can stop them but this time from anger.  
“Why didn’t you tell us?!” I demand. “You saw everything! You knew this was going to happen! You see and know all things past, present, and future!” Now I’m even more hysterical, trying to rip myself away from her, but she maintains a grip on my hand. “Yet you didn’t warn us – you didn’t even try! What have you to say for yourself!?”  
“My sacred vow is—”  
“FUCK YOUR VOW.” I shout hatefully. “My friends are dead – good people, children even, were mutilated!”  
Still, Sailor Pluto’s voice remains sober. “Your Highness, nothing could be done to stop this atrocity. Knowing in advance about it would have made no difference, no matter how you think you could have prepared. Ghast is a very strong demon, and none of the Sailor Senshi have the power to take him on.”  
“There are no more Sailor Senshi,” I snarl callously, throwing my broken locket at her. I hear a thud and the newfound darkness in my heart hopes that it hit her in the face. “None that matter.”  
“Usagi-chan, there is—”  
“Don’t you dare call me that!” I viciously cut her off. “To you I am Neo Queen Serenity, only those I trust may call me Usagi-chan. And because of you, there is no one left that I trust.”  
Pluto remains silent for a moment. Just when I begin to wonder if she is even still here, she speaks again. “Queen Serenity, the other Senshi are not dead.”  
These words weigh heavily on the air between us, and I stare blankly in the direction where I think she’s sitting. All I can say is “what?”  
“Ghast dragged them into the underworld with him during the attack on your high school graduation day. That is why no bodies were found. All this time I have been trying to contact you, but travel between the dimensions has been somehow distorted… I am certain it has to do with Ghast’s power. The Senshi are being held prisoner in hell, and each moment there is agony for them as it has been for you.”  
I dare not let myself hope yet. My new meds might be messing with my head. But I can’t help but feel my heart swell with the possibility that I might get my desperate wish fulfilled. Can I really see them again? Hear their voices and feel their embraces? “H—how do I get them back?” I finally say. It only just no occurs to me that Pluto must have frozen time around us, since the banging on my bedroom door has ceased, and Luna is stiff against my leg, absolutely still.  
Pluto pressed the broken transformation brooch into the hand she’s been holding captive since she arrived and wraps my fingers around it. “Only one person can rescue them.”  
My eyes narrow disdainfully. “She’s been gone a long time.”  
“She is only gone so long as you banish her. But she will always be a part of you. And it is your choice that will make all the difference, my queen.”  
With that, she releases my hand and time resumes. My dad must have been able to get the lock unscrewed, because both he and Mom burst in. Mom wraps me in her arms and holds me tight, sobbing. “Usa, you’re bleeding! Kenji, call an ambulance, she needs stitches on her wrists!”  
I don’t say a word, or hear much of anything that happens over the next several hours. I’m able to convince the hospital that it wasn’t a suicide attempt, and so after being bandaged up, I’m sent home. Mom puts me to bed and places my cell phone on the night table with her number pulled up so that all I have to do is push a button and it will call her.  
Then I’m left alone. I think Shingo cleaned up the mirror shards while I was gone, because I can’t feel them when I approach the dresser and grab my brooch. It feels odd in my hand, almost foreign. It has been a long time since I used it. Regardless of whether or not Setsuna was a hallucination, I have to try, right?  
The only problem is I’m not exactly sure what I’m supposed to do. Luna seems to be following me – I can hear her paws on the carpet. “Please.. if they really are trapped, I’ll do anything. Just give me my power back.” I say quietly to the shattered Crystal, as if it is sentient.  
It’s then that I feel the full anguish hit me like a train. I drop to my knees and hunch over, sobbing harshly. “Please! They need me, and I’m useless like this! Take anything from me! Just let me be Sailor Moon again, so I can save them!”  
A hand gently clasps my shoulder and I jump, looking straight into what I know is a face – I can feel soft breath. “Are you truly wiling to give up part of yourself to regain your gift?” It’s Neo-Queen Serenity. I would know this voice anywhere, considering one day it will be mine.  
I nod frantically, extending the locket to her with both hands, as if it is a fragile bird’s egg. “I will do whatever it takes.”  
“Very well.” Without warning, her hand plunges deep into my chest. I gasp as blood rushes up my esophagus and spills out of my mouth, dripping onto my pajamas. I am too stunned to move, but I can feel her fingers wrap around my heart and squeeze. Choking on even more blood, I struggle to breathe.  
Serenity pulls, digging her nails into the soft tissue of the vital organ. She is literally tearing it in half. I try to scream, but the only sound that comes out at first is a mangled gurgle. Once she pulls part of the still-beating heart out of my chest, I can at last scream from the torture of having my chest cavity invaded.  
I feel a strange sensation take over my body, and my eyes burn as if the acid rain that rendered them useless has returned. Only this time, instead of my word going dark, it slowly fades back into focus. My vision is at first blurry, but I can still make out the shape of my future self fusing my bloody heart fragment with what is left of the Silver Crystal.  
When I am finally able to stop screaming, Serenity has vanished. My parents burst into my room for the second time in one night, only this time they are relieved to find that I’m not brutally injured. Mom kneels before me and grabs my shoulders. “Usa, did you have another night terror?”  
Shaking all over, I swallowed hard and stared at the floor, where a platinum heart-shaped brooch glimmers in the light from the hallway.  
“M—mom,” I meet her gaze with shock, “I can see.”


	3. The Dormant Daughter of the Silver moon

=The Dormant Daughter of the Silver Moon=

 

 

“Well, it looks like we’re finished here,” declares the optometrist, moving the light in his hand away from my eyes. Clicking it off, he replaces it into the breast pocket of his lab coat. “You seem to be the product of a medical miracle, Miss Tsukino. There isn’t even a trace of scarring in your retinas, and it seems that your eyes have retained their natural color. I don’t see any issues, but just in case, I’m going to prescribe you some medicine for headaches. Don’t strain your vision, and if you feel yourself regressing, be sure to come back immediately.” He scribbles out a strange word onto a prescription pad, then tears the page free and hands it over to my mom.  
Only three days have passed since I regained my sight, so I still have a difficult time closing them – I’ve seen enough darkness to last several lifetimes. It’s an adjustment for certain; I had barely gotten used to being blind, and then this happened and reversed every coping skill I’d managed to develop. Not that I resent it, of course. I’m thrilled to be able to see again.  
Well, sometimes…  
Currently I’m cleaning my room, going through and organizing things that I wasn’t able to before. Dad fixed the mirror, and I did my best to repair the picture frame I’d thrown at it during my fit of rage. It was a picture from graduation. The girls were surrounding me, all of us wearing white gowns and brightly smiling, clutching to the scrolls that marked us as graduates. A small, sad smile tugged at my lips as I set the photo beside my heart-shaped jewelry case.  
For the first time in months, I’m wearing my hair in buns again. It was too hard to fasten them when I couldn’t see, and Mom already did enough for me, I didn’t want to ask her to spend two hours a day messing with my abundance of hair on top of it all. But it feels nice, almost as if things are getting back to normal. Or, as normal as they can be, anyway…  
My eyes land on the silver brooch Serenity left for me, which lies still on my nightstand. It’s unlike any of the other lockets I’ve owned so far – there’s absolutely no color, just chrome, with metal wings unfurling around the sides, and a diamond inlaid the center. I don’t know how to activate the powers, or if it will work, but I have been too scared to try it yet.  
“It isn’t the same.” I jump at the sound of a vaguely familiar voice and whirl around to find a black cat with a golden crescent moon mark on her forehead. She is sitting on my bed, straight up, not like a normal feline. After a long pause, I walk over to Luna and shakily lower myself to face level with her. Part of me fears to believe it; hope hasn’t exactly been my strong suit lately. “Luna, did you just speak to me…?”  
For a moment, she looks as shocked as I do. “You can understand me again?”  
“Y-yes,” I stutter, managing a trembling nod as tears of relief glaze over my eyes. I open my arms and wrap the cat into a warm embrace, so thrilled to have my friend back. But there isn’t much time to celebrate – I have other friends to save. Releasing Luna back onto my bed, I grab the brooch from my night stand and show it to her.  
“What did you mean by saying it isn’t the same?” I inquire.  
After looking at it for a brief beat, Luna turns her eyes up to me with a grave expression. “It is the Imperial Crystal, but it’s… different somehow. Changed. Usagi-chan, I don’t think it is safe to use it.”  
“Queen Serenity gave it me,” I say uncertainly, looking down at the gorgeous locket in my palm. “I don’t have a choice. I have to trust her – she restored my sight, and I know exactly what I’m supposed to do with these gifts she’s left me.”  
If the other Senshi really are trapped in Hell, then only one person can save them. And regardless of whether ort not I am ready to be Sailor Moon again, I must be.  
Just as I am fastening the brooch to the front of my shirt, however, I hear a loud commotion outside – as if someone has set off a bomb somewhere nearby. Instantly, Luna and I rush out of the house to find half of my street in ruins. Smoke rises like ominous clouds from the destruction, which was apparently caused by the gargantuan creature with what seems like hundreds of insect legs, all wiggling in tandem as its large body worms through the street with all the force of a freight train.  
Its pale face is delicate, made up of white with ruby lips and long, shiny ebony hair frames the expressionless mask. It’s barreling straight towards us. Instinct makes me grab up Luna and take off running at top speed. I can hear the houses being crushed by the Chogsogu’s grotesque body, smell the coppery blood of the hundreds of people it must have already killed during its rampage.  
I turn down a narrow alley that I’m certain it can’t follow us.  
I’m wrong.  
It tears through the small space, its large body squeezing towards me, secreting a putrid acid along the brick walls. It corrodes anything it covers, just like the rain it brought down on Tokyo the day it arrived with its fellow monsters.  
Now I’m trapped, back pressed to a fence with barbed wire wrapped around the top, my heart pounding all the way up to my throat, clutching Luna as tightly as I can. The Chogsogu’s horrid breath blows across my face, its demonic feminine giggle echoing in my ears. I don’t want to open my eyes, but I can feel it right in front me, opening its jaws and –  
Suddenly, the abomination stumbles back, shrieking at an octave that causes my ear drums to burst. Jolting as Luna wriggles free from my arms, I at last look at what’s causing the commotion.  
It’s a girl – she’s wearing a pink sailor uniform lined with metallic gold, matching thigh high boots, and gloves. The skirt itself is covered in galaxy print.  
Despite only seeing the back of her, I can tell right away that she is a Senshi. But not one I’ve ever met. Her short hair is platinum, like starlight, and curled into two perfect ringlets pulled up like twintails. She seems about sixteen years old, purely based on appearance, but she’s pretty scrawny – then again, who am I to call someone skinny?  
It’s only now that I see the carved ivory bostaff in her hands, tipped at each end with giant glowing stars, which she uses force the Chogsogu away from her. It screams even louder before retreating completely.  
Panting heavily, the strange young girl glances over her shoulder briefly to look at me with the brightest sapphire eyes I have ever seen. And then she runs forward, wall jumps onto a nearby fire escape, and disappears from view. Just like that.  
Too shocked for words, I look at Luna, who is also slack jawed in confusion. Neither of us could speak, but further down the street the Chogsogu has found itself some new victims and was no doubt causing astronomical damage. So I stand up and grabbed the brooch from my shirt.  
It is time to become Sailor Moon again.


	4. Sailor Supernova

=Sailor Supernova=

 

 

I tighten my hold around the brooch, feeling its sharp edges dig into the skin of my palm as I take off running as fast as I can, turning the corner out of the alleyway and following the same path I saw the mystery Senshi take from above.  
Luna is close at my heels, and all I can hear is my shoes on the sidewalk, the blood pounding in my ears, adrenaline fuelling my every step. My legs pump faster than they ever have. And suddenly the words appear in my mind, as clearly as if they are written before me on a piece of paper.  
“Titanium Wind, Makeup!”  
The brooch opens, revealing more of the large diamond inlaid in its center. Gold ribbons extend from it and wrap my body, coming together to form a white leotard with sheer puff sleeves, a mini skirt with several layers of ivory chiffon trimmed with golden swirls, knee-high gilded boots, and a sharp breeze seems to summon large wings on my back. They’re plush with feathers, and warm like an extension of myself – like another limb. A golden circlet appears around my forehead, white reflectors following close behind it on the buns in my hair. A metallic, gilt bow forms on my chest, centered by the glittering brooch. At last, much smaller wings flutter to life on my hips.  
With this transformation complete, I am Sailor Titanium Moon.  
Though I have no time to really savor it, the feeling of being back in uniform is pure elation. Now I am no longer helpless. No longer useless.  
From here, all Luna and I have to do is follow the trail of destruction. Though Chogsogu are engorged creatures the size of three city buses combined, they move unfathomably fast, so I decide to test out these wings. They moved once and I lift immediately off of the ground. Another flap and zoom another hundred feet into the air. At first I’m a little unsteady, but after a brief moment to catch my breath, I straighten out and my flight pattern becomes smoother.  
Once I’ve grasped the concept a bit better, I go back down to pick up Luna.  
“For once, I don’t have an answer,” she admits, her crimson eyes wide with wonder as they take in my new appearance.  
“We can figure it out later. Right now, it’s time to be Sailor Moon again.”

When I land – a little shakily – on the street just behind the gargantuan monster, I release Luna so that she can find a safe place to hide and prepare myself for a fight. The mysterious Guardian is engaging the creature already, her staff having turned into a large blade with a star at its hilt.  
What I thought was just a print on her skirt is actually a moving galaxy that I feel I could reach out and touch if I tried, and the bow on her chest was the same way. I’ve never seen anything like it – it’s mesmerizing. Who is this girl?  
Her expression is determined as she blocks several attacks from the centipede-esque abomination. She glances at me for a moment, expectantly, before returning her full attention to the battle. She can’t hold it off forever, and she needs help. But what can I do? I have no weapon. Only wings.  
And again, just as I knew what to say to transform, I suddenly understand what I have to do. Pressing a hand against the locket on my chest, I close my eyes and pray aloud. “Goddess divine of the Wind, lend me your strength!” A glowing, ivory carved long bow materializes before me. I grab it just as a glowing white arrow made of pure energy appears in the bowstring.  
Like Icarus ascending towards the sun, I lift into the air to get a better shot. From this vantage point, I am certain that I can hit the vulnerable tissue just behind the Chogsogu’s mask. Taking aim, I release the arrow.  
It hits its mark flawlessly, digging deep into one of the few weak points the Chogsogu possesses on its grotesque body. Screaming in agony, the creature writhes around on the street, curling up and finally just turning into a massive puddle of tar. I land and my bow disappears, just as my eyes lock on a cracked geisha mask floating ominously among the sludge.  
Shuddering, I look away, searching for the other Sailor Guardian, but she is gone.

/ / / / / /

Silently, I follow the sidewalk, my hands buried deep in the pockets of my black denim jacket, trying not to make eye contact with anyone. It’s strange – being out and about, as if the world isn’t slowly coming to an end and monsters aren’t wreaking hell on us every other week. But since the return of their guardian, the people of Tokyo are living their lives with hope again.  
It is all over the news; Sailor Moon was here to protect the city once again. No longer do the civilians feel abandoned and helpless to defend their home. It’s a lot of responsibility for me to shoulder, but I’ll admit that I’m glad to see some smiling faces and normalcy. Hell, I’m glad to see at all.  
After half a year of darkness, it is a welcome sight.  
The sun is shining, but it is still very cold outside – the skyscrapers break up the frigid wind a bit, but it’s still harsh and stings my cheeks until they are a raw, rosy color. But this is how February always is. And I’m grateful for every bit of it.  
Luna yawns and stretches out the length of her sleek body as we wait at a crosswalk for the sign to change. I think that she, too, is happy to see the difference we are making.  
As we cross the street, we pass a few girls wearing the blue and red school uniform for Juban Middle School, where I once attended. They’re excitedly chatting about Sailor Moon, and the newest sighting of her. I can’t suppress my smile.  
“You hungry?” I ask, glancing down at my cat as we stop in front of a small café. She nods and I open the door to let her go in first. We sit by the window, and Luna curls up in my lap, warm and comfortable. Before long she’s sleeping.  
I order a hot chocolate with star marshmallows, a piece of sponge cake, and a small bowl of cream for Luna. The waitress takes down my order and goes to prepare it. When my hot drink is brought to me, I blow lightly on it to cool the rich chocolate before taking a sip and looking out onto the street.  
Perhaps it’s strange that the only friend I have now is a cat. But Luna is so much more than a pet. She’s always been one of my dearest friends, offering guidance and wisdom, keeping me in line, and doing her best to steer me in the right direction, even when I was stubbornly resisting. I would be so lost without her. And I’m just so glad to have her here now. I cannot imagine the crushing loneliness I would feel if she, too, were gone.  
“Excuse me – are you Tsukino Usagi?” one of the waitresses inquires politely, approaching my table. She isn’t the one who’s serving me, so I find it a bit strange, but return her smile and nod. “Yes, can I help you?”  
In her hand is a pastel pink envelope, closed with a purple wax seal in the shape of a rose. That makes me think of Mamo-chan, and suddenly I feel guilty for not spending more time with him lately. But he understands my need for space, so that I can grieve. But sometimes I forget… he is grieving, too.  
“Someone left this for you at the register. A friend of yours maybe?” The waitress hands me the letter. I thank her as she walks away and examine the envelope curiously. Luna stirs and opens one eye. “Who is it from?”  
I turn it over in my hands and lift the seal, pulling out a piece of delicate stationary that smells of roses. “It doesn’t say,” I slowly reply after briefly scanning over the short letter. “But they want me to meet them in the music room at Juban Municipal High School. I haven’t been back there since graduation. Would they even let me in?” Then I remember that today is Sunday, and the school is open to students for clubs and extra curricular activities.  
Folding it up and sliding the paper back into its envelope, I store it safely inside the Cinnamoroll journal in my bag. After Luna and I finish eating, I pay the bill and we make our way to Juban High.  
My stomach is in knots as I recall the exact text from the letter. If you want to see the truth, come to the music room at your old high school. I will show you.  
The large campus comes into view behind a wall of trees and a fence. Once I reach the front door, I hesitate before entering. Within these halls lay memories of an important time in my life. A time with my most precious friends. Am I ready to face it?  
Regardless, here I am. The truth, whatever it is, awaits me just beyond these front doors.  
Taking a deep breath, I go in.  
Immediately, a beautiful piano melody meets my ears, accompanied by a similar soft, light voice that somehow manages to project and fill the empty halls. Almost hypnotized by the song, I follow the sound until I find the correct room.  
A girl sits at the grand piano in the music class, playing the keys with flawless slender fingers and singing an alluring and haunting lullaby. As I listen, I realize that she is telling a story.  
Closing my eyes, I focus on her words and begin to see them take shape in my mind’s eye. A radiant kingdom, a castle built of pure ivory, a gorgeous sea surrounding it…  
The crystal water glimmers like thousands of submerged diamonds at my feet as I stand at a grassy bank covered in wildflowers. The distant shape of other planets can be faintly seen among the clouds. The song tells me that this is another moon kingdom. Not Earth’s moon – it is much more dazzling than that.  
I turn around to see a girl quietly watching the small waves move around the palace. She is breath-taking – impossibly long pearly hair, her bangs braided away from her pure sapphire eyes, creamy skin, a heart-shaped face, a slender shape beneath her sleeveless white gown. A shimmering blue cloak is clasped at her shoulders, blowing in the soft breeze around her, and at her breast is a metal plate, inlaid with sparkling jewels. She wears a strange type of crown made of sterling silver, decorated with topazes, amethysts, and sapphires. It sits around her head like a circlet, and yet it is too thick to be considered one.  
She softly smiles and my heart jumps a little – but she can’t see me of course, she is looking past me. When I glance over my shoulder, I nearly drop from shock. My eyes widen as I watch him approach, wearing a black tunic and a dark-green cloak, his long ebony hair pulled back in its usual fashion. I can barely breathe. So much time has passed, but I know it is him. I would recognize him anywhere.  
“Seiya..” I whisper as he walks past me and embraces the stunning girl.  
As the song continues, so does the story: Now I am standing among the giant white pillars of the castle. Around me are the Starlights, in their male forms, eyes wide in horror. I follow their gaze and my own stomach lurches.  
Somehow I know that the demolished section of the palace, far above us, smoke billowing out of it like a factory, is where the princess is. Or was…  
I am now watching Seiya hold a body wrapped in blood-stained sheets. The princess is entirely covered, but I can still tell that she is terribly burned. Yaten and Taiki watch as helplessly as I do as tears stream down Seiya’s face. I feel my eyes well up too and I don’t fight the urge to cry with him. My hand goes to cover my mouth, and suddenly all of us are standing outside, before a beautiful woman garbed in crimson robes that match her hair.  
Princess Kakyuu.  
The Starlights are all kneeling before her, but in Seiya’s arms is the same bundle of bloody sheets from a moment ago. Kakyuu motions for them to rise, and the expression on Star Fighter’s face is so heart breaking that it physically hurts me.  
The red princess places her hand comfortingly onto his shoulder before taking the light bundle from him. Turning way, she bends down and places the covered body onto the grass. I don’t realize I’m holding my breath until I gasp for air, sobbing lightly. But still, I listen and watch.  
The angelic voice is slightly distant now, but it simultaneously swirls around me, as if something of physical matter.  
I can feel the mixture of the Starlights’ hope and sorrow. All of them adore this young princess, who was murdered violently in her own castle.  
Kakyuu pulls down the sheet just a few inches, and closes her eyes, pressing her ruby lips to the other princess’s forehead. A name comes to me, as if I have known it my entire life.  
Nova.  
Turning her face up to the starlit sky, Kakyuu says something that I cannot hear. She spreads her arms wide around Princess Nova, a blinding flash explodes between them. I stare in awe as Kakyuu begins to fade away, her body breaking down into stunning rainbow lights that travel slowly together into the sky.  
I reach up for her, my heart truly aching. But she seems to know that I am here, and directs an assuring smile at me. I lower my hand and her face completely disappears. My attention is directed to Nova, whose skin was now untouched by the hateful fire that had claimed her life. Her chest rises slowly. And then her eyes open.  
Again, the scene changes around me. I am still crying, but I pay close attention. The Starlights are guarding Nova as she stoops beside the water, committing this reflection of herself to memory before lifting an ornate dagger and chopping off her hair. When she is finished, she sheaths the dagger and pulls up her hood, nodding to Seiya. They begin to walk away from the bank, but I stay there.  
One more image appears to me.  
A jeweled, silvery crown shining among the ruins of a bed chamber.

 

The song ends and I’m back in the music room. I gasp and grab onto the nearest chair for balance – I feel as if my knees will give way at any moment. Shaking, I wipe away a few of the tears on my face and slowly look up at the girl at the piano.  
She is beautiful as her voice – her platinum hair is a spiky pixie cut, which flatters her fair face, and her eyes are like blue stars glimmering in a clear sky. Her ears are heavily pierced – three silver hoops went up the side of each one, topped by a cartilage piercing, and in her lobes were small peach-colored gauges in the shape of intricate roses.  
“Y—you’re her, aren’t you?” I finally find my voice.  
She stands – she’s a bit shorter than me, but I’m pretty sure we’re around the same age. Looking me over for a moment, she nods, crossing her arms. Now I notice the crystal on a black choker around her slim neck, and a silver chain that a detailed heart locket hung from. It is exactly like mine, but instead of a diamond, a pink sapphire sparkles in the center.  
“Technically, on Earth I am Sayuri Hinamora. But my true identity is Princess Nova, of Unora.” She explains, and I cannot help but think that the alias suits her well – she is as beautiful and delicate looking as a “small lily”, which is what “Sayuri” means. “What I have just shown you was my assassination at the hand of Ghast Leafaunt. He is a demon prince from the Shadow Kingdom, and a direct descendant of the Dark Moon.”  
Luna and I are absolutely still – Ghast is the one who is summoning the Chogsogu from hell, and slaughtering thousands of innocent people worldwide. “But why?” I’m upset at how small my voice sounds, but in my defense I’ve just been given an overwhelming amount of information, and it is a lot to take in. “Why does he want you dead? Why is he needlessly killing people?”  
Sayuri sighs, as if I am a child who’d just asked why the sky is blue. “He seeks revenge for the demolition of his kingdom during the Lunar Wars, back when Queen Serenity ruled the White Moon. When the Dark Moon destroyed your kingdom, it was a declaration of war. Unora aided in the defense of the White Moon, and attacked the Dark kingdom. My people must think that I am dead. Ghast must think I am. He will not destroy Unora – he seems to think that murdering their princess was enough of a message.”  
Again, my heart aches for her plight. But she seems so brave. I don’t think I can even measure up to her.  
“Seiya said that we would be safe here,” the words come out like they taste of poison, which doesn’t sound right in Sayuri’s sweet voice. “He told me that Earth had guardians to protect it, and if we stayed under the radar long enough, Ghast would be defeated. However, it seems that he managed to kill most of you during his first attack. For a long time, I debated with myself on whether or not to become a Sailor Guardian as well and fight. It seemed that you had given up – Sailor Moon was nowhere to be seen. And so I became Sailor Supernova. It seems like you’ve finally decided to fight back.”  
At the mention of my friends being slaughtered, I feel as if she has punched me in the stomach. I grip the chair even tighter. “It’s not that I didn’t want to fight,” I begin shakily, unable to meet her eyes. Even if I had no choice in the matter, I still feel heavy shame for sitting by during these past six months. “I couldn’t fight. During Ghast’s first appearance, the Imperial Crystal was destroyed, and I was blinded by acid. I was incapable of defending myself, much less anyone else.”  
Sayuri scoffs indignantly. “If you had even the smallest bit of faith, you could have had that locket from the very start!” she points accusingly to the brooch around my neck. “Instead you gave up. There was no strength in your heart. No need to avenge your fallen friends. Only self pity and sorrow.”  
More tears form in my eyes, but I don’t let them fall. “You’re right.” I admit quietly, glancing to the windows. “I did give up… but I’m here now. That has to count for something, doesn’t it?” I meet her gaze expectantly.  
She softens a bit. “Yes, it does. Now that you’re a vessel for the wind goddess, we may have a chance to defeat Ghast.” And now I’m lost again. Before I can ask what she’s talking about, she’s already working on an explanation.  
“The locket you wear is made of Lunar Titanium, like mine. It is only possible to make this material with the heart of lunar royalty. It’s the most durable substance in existence. Whenever your heart created that jewel, you summoned a goddess of old to aid you, since you no longer possessed the power to transform on your own. I myself harbor the goddess of starlight. It is different for everyone. But it has not been attempted many times, either.”  
I think that I understand. That was why Serenity appeared to me, when I finally broke down enough to beg the universe to help me. In my most desperate moment, I was given an answer. “Ghast is attacking Earth because of its part in the Lunar Wars then… He wants me to pay for what happened to his kingdom, but he hasn’t been able to kill me yet. That’s why he’s still here. Why he’s still wreaking havoc on these poor civilians.”  
“It isn’t just you,” Sayuri assures, fastening up her light-pink parka. “Come with me.”  
Resolving to pull myself together, I release the chair and stand on my own, following her out of the room and into the hall. “Where are we going?” I ask, picking Luna up so she doesn’t have to strain to match our stride.  
Sayuri pushes the front door open and exits into the sunshine. “Ghast isn’t just here for you. He’s after the Prince of Earth.”


End file.
